


Judgementale

by Reader_San



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Asshole Sans, Basically a bad brother au thingy, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, F/F, F/M, Fucking angst everywhere, Hurt/Comfort, Maybe - Freeform, Tags May Change, Undertale Genocide Route, Undertale Pacifist Route, how does one tag, we'll see
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-25
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-05-13 15:07:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14751209
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reader_San/pseuds/Reader_San
Summary: After countless of genocides, Frisk mysteriously disappears after a true RESET, making the underground progress without them.It's been 3 years and the relationship between the two skelebros is hanging by a thread.Everything has changed since they left.What would happen if they came back, not as a child, but a teen?And you know how bad teens can be.(AKA, welcome to my AT and I can't summarize.)





	1. 3 years has passed.

Ah, mount Ebbott. You beautifully cursed place, filled to the brim with sealed off monsters.  
The end of the world would come as soon as that barrier shatters.  
Good thing their saviour isn't there yet.  
Their angel.  
Of death or mercy, who knows.  
It's all up to Frisk.  
What an unique name.  
But they want to change it later.  
It's sounds…. Risque.  
Heh.  
Frisk the saviour of monsters.  
How many times have they worn that title?  
‘As many times as I’ve RESET, I suppose.’  
3 years.  
It's time they pay these monsters a visit.  
But not right now.  
They're not ready.  
Soon.

They cough up a black liquid, swirling with purple and wiped it off their mouth.

They won't fail this time.

~☆~

A golden light shines down upon us. But a shadow is cast just by them, darker than any I've ever seen.  
Their clothing glistening with a white powder, most likely the dust from the monsters they’ve killed.  
And expression as neutral as ever  
”let’s just get to the point.”.  
”it's a beautiful day outside. birds are singing, flowers are blooming…”  
They took stance. I got my magic ready.  
”on days like these, kids like you…”  
I don’t even know why I’m still trying.  
This is pointless.  
My so called ”creepy face" doesn’t even amuse them anymore.  
I surprise attacked them that landed a few times, but otherwise, they were pretty ready.  
”here we go.”  
Wonder how long I’ll keep them busy this time.

 

…

 

Ugh. I’m so…. Tired.  
I just wanna sleep.  
Why am I still doing this?  
It’s pointless.  
They’ll just reset and reset and reset and reset….  
It doesn't matter anymore.  
Maybe if I close my eyes, it will all go away….

9999999999 DMG  
Heh.  
They look surprised that I didn’t even try to dodge.  
”honestly, i'm tired of this. Let me just stay dead. Please.”  
Everything’s fuzzy.  
My insides feel like cotton.  
Hey, there’s Papyrus.  
Maybe I’ll join him.  
I collapsed and sat down by the pillar, looking up at him as the last of my few tears disintegrated alongside the rest of my body.  
”no more.”  
I closed my eyes.  
It felt nice to finally be able to rest.  
Until I have to fight them again.  
And again, and again….

F o r e v e r .

~☆~  
Sans woke up with a start and tried calming down his anxious magic.  
He stared at his ceiling and remembered where he was.  
’That’s right, I'm in my bedroom at the Capital.’ He thought reassuringly.  
’I’m not…. In the hall with that human child.’  
His memory was fuzzy, but maybe, just maybe…  
They’re just a product of his imagination?  
There hasn’t been a reset in years.  
Maybe he was finally going crazy after overworking himself….  
Whatever.  
”What time is it?” He mumbled to himself and turned around in his bed.  
It was 7 O'clock.  
”Shit, I’m late!” He exclaimed and jumped out of bed.  
Good thing that he sleeps in his work clothes, or else he’d never have time.  
He took his glasses by the bedside table and his little hat and ran downstairs.  
”Maybe I can have time to take a sna--- Nope”  
He didn’t allow himself to think like his old self.  
’If I’m late, I can take things easy. Because I’m already late, it can’t get worse’ he shook away those thoughts and zoomed by his brother, not even paying him attention.  
”You’re usually not this late…” He mumbled.  
”I know, goodbye.” He didn’t have time to care about Papyrus' comments.  
”You know that you can teleport, right? Or did you forget?”  
Sans hesitated a step in realization and Papyrus saw this.  
”Have a good day.”  
’Passive aggressive idiot.’ Sans thought and teleported.  
’It’s not like I’m much better though.’  
~■♤■~

Gold.  
Golden light everywhere.  
Same hall.  
Same pillars.  
And the ghost of his past.  
He averted his eyes from the spot of where he think he died in his nightmare and rushed to the throne room.  
He’s late. It’s not often that he’s late like Papyrus said.  
He entered the room and saw His majesty standing with Dogamy and Dogaressa.  
They appeared to be holding somebody.  
”My sincerest apologies for being late, your majesty. My alarm wouldn’t work, but of course, no excuse can---"  
”It’s okay, Sans. You’re overworked as it is. And no need to call me that.” Asgore reassured, smiling warmly at him, albeit a bit worriedly.  
”Anyways…. Any new troublemakers?” Asgore sighed, and the dogs moved to reveal an angry Icecap.  
”He was harassing a Loox for ignoring his cap.” Sans sighed and motioned the three to follow him.  
Time to work his magic.

”Unless you want to be exploited, I suggest that the two of you step back.” The guard dogs did as he said, knowing better than to question him.  
The Icecap looked nervous as he was face to face with the Judge.  
But it is his fault so….  
”Get ready.” And at that, he pulled him into a FIGHT.  
But Sans would rather use the word Confrontation instead.  
It’s not like he’s harming anyone with this.  
Possibly.  
The world got sucked out of light and he focused on the SOUL of the monster.  
’Time to look into things I shouldn’t.’  
Images of his past came flying by, and Sans tried to ignore this, only looking for the memory of what he did this week.

”S-stop this… please…” It’s never a good feeling to look into somebody's darkest secrets and most intimate moments.  
But it must feel absolutely dreadful to be the victim to it.  
Oh well.  
Most think twice before doing anything after being pulled into a Confrontation with him.  
’And that’s why the symbol of the Judge is an eye with a SOUL in its center.’  
”No EXP….” He mumbled.  
’The problem wasn’t all that big, he’s just egocentric.’ Sans thought to himself.  
”I promise I won’t do that again, just please, leave my SOUL be!” the Icecap cried out.  
Sans tsked and snapped his fingers.  
They were out of the Confrontation to both of their relief.  
”Now… Unless you want to go through this experience again, I suggest you apologize to the Loox and leave. Now.” The monster nodded and got escorted out with the dogs.  
Sans let out a breath.  
He’d never would’ve thought that he would look into the SOUL's of the monster for a living.  
Guess you can’t predict the future after all.  
He shrugged and turned around, heading of to the throne room.  
He’s got the entire day left of work after all.  
~☆~  
”Finally, he’s gone.” Papyrus muttered out loud.  
He went outside as well, but took his time.  
He strolled through the Capital, not looking anyone in the eye since he didn’t want his day to get bad.  
At Hotland, he went to the River Person so that he could get to probably his second favourite place faster.  
Waterfall.  
Maybe he should go visit Undyne while he’s there…?  
Or did he really want to annoy her?  
What if she’s working?  
He decided to go to her later, seeing as it was very much likely she was still asleep.  
For now, he was headed to Snowdin to do what he usually did.  
Work with his traps and puzzles.

As he entered the cute little snowfilled town, he took in his surroundings and smiled to himself, which was rather rare.  
“Heh. I'm back home again.”  
‘And not in the capital’ went by unsaid by him.  
Maybe while he's here, he could go to Grillby’s…?  
Sure, he hasn't been there for a long time, so…  
Grillby it is.  
The way everyone looked at him with familiarity and friendliness didn't sit well with him.  
“PAPYRUS!” All the regulars chimed simultaneously.  
He cringed.  
1: It was way too loud.  
2: This is and will remain his place.  
It feels wrong.  
But it would be rude to not reply.  
“Oh, hi guys.” He said quietly and shuffled over to the counter.  
The flaming bartender looked his way in question.  
“...... How's…. Sans…..?”  
Papyrus sighed and that was all that he needed to know that things are still the same.  
Nobody gets it.  
Why did he suddenly decide to up and leave Snowdin?  
The riverperson exists for a reason!  
“I guess I could have some fries as well… a small portion please.” He used to hate Grillby’s for the fast food, but the fries are okay despite being so greasy.  
And because the Judge spent time here.  
“........ Is he still….. overworking himself….?”  
Grillby asked quietly.  
“If you mean down to the bone, then yeah.” Papyrus said with a half smile and a little chuckle.  
The air grew somber between the two.  
“S-sorry…. I shouldn't have…”  
“It's…. Not your fault….”  
God, he really couldn't do a single thing right, now could he?  
Making people disappointed and upset is his thing now apparently.  
He feels disgusting.  
He grimaced and slapped down some gold before muttering an apology and leaving, to the confusion of the regulars.  
‘Useless… pathetic…. Waste of space….’  
All of these words that he continuously used on him were true.  
He really was a failure.  
Sniffling, he wiped his tears and went to the Judge's old stand.  
At least he could do one of the only things he's good at there.  
Even if it is meaningless outside of capturing non-existent humans.  
He just wished that he wasn't such a bother.  
Like maybe, he should just go d---  
*RING* *RING*  
“S-shoot!” His phone was ringing at the most inconvenient time possible.  
He didn't answer and continued with his blueprints.  
That should lift his spirits!  
….  
Except they didn't.  
They never did.  
Things he used to enjoy are now meaningless to him.  
It's just a waste of time, and he knows this.  
He's right.  
Standing up, he went farther back into the forest.  
Maybe a walk will clear his mind….

Who is he kidding?  
This isn't doing anything.  
He's just at the entrance to the ruins now!  
This huge door just doesn't make sense.  
Sure, the queen locked herself up in there, but how do we know if she's still alive?  
Sighing, he sat down at it and just quietly started humming a little melody.  
Simple, but upbeat.  
“Sans….? Is that you…?” A voice behind the door asked.  
Despite being muffled, it rang clear to him that it was female and awfully motherly.  
Should he say something?  
“N-no, sorry. I'm his brother… sorry for bothering you, I was just about to leave…”  
A gasp of some sort came behind the door, almost as if the voice was surprised or shocked.  
“Oh no dear, you're not bothering me!” Wait, what?  
“Quite the opposite actually! I've been terribly lonely in here, so I wouldn't mind your company.” The way her voice was filled with warmth and acceptance nearly moved him to tears, but the logical part of his head started to act up.  
‘Of course she's nice, you're a stranger that she hasn't heard of and she's lonely. It will only be a matter of time before she understands quite how bad of a monster you really are.’  
That's not true, right?  
“S-sure. If you insist that you don't mind…” He tilted his head back to the door and payed attention to what she could possibly want to tell.  
“Oh, I've heard so much about you, Papyrus!”  
His SOUL squeezed at the mention of his name.  
“R-really? What kind of things?” He crossed his fingers that it wasn't anything too bad.

“Like that you're a helpful and kind monster who stands up for his beliefs! You're creative, smart and as Sans usually says, the coolest!”  
Ah.  
This must've been a long time ago then.  
Poor lady must not be able to keep track of time in the ruins.  
“Well, I've always been a pretty chill dude if I do say so myself.” He said before he could stop himself.  
Oh well, it was a good reply.  
A quiet snort could be heard behind the door, and Papyrus’ smile got a bit less strained.  
“Sorry, I just couldn't miss out on the oppuntunity.” The chuckles got louder and louder and his mood just got better and better.  
“That was a very ice pun that you made! Tibia honest, your puns has improved my mood. So thank you for that!”  
Well, wasn't she a sweet one? And she makes puns that could rival his own.  
“Snow problem. Wouldn't want you to give me the cold shoulder after all!” He felt pride surging through him since he could make so many snow related puns on the spot.  
“Pfft, hahahahaha!” The lady behind the door let out an unrestrained laughter and sounded like she was having the time of her life.  
“You okay there?” He was getting a little bit worried.  
“Never been better! I just didn't realise how much I've missed puns!” That's good.  
At least he made somebody happy today.  
“Is there any type of jokes that you especially like?” He asked. Maybe he could entertain her for a bit longer?  
He really didn't want to go back just yet.  
“Hmmm, well, I'm rather fond of knock knock jokes…” knock knock jokes?  
He could do that.  
“Same here!”

~☆~

It was late.  
11.36 PM to be exact.  
Sans was still not home.  
As usual then.  
What did he exactly expect?  
He's not gonna change.  
Papyrus went home after chatting up with the stranger and doing a few things at the ol’ station before he left.

He had already eaten his dinner, so there wasn't much else to do than sleep.  
So he changed his clothes and got into his very plain looking bed.  
It's nothing like his beautiful race car bed.  
Oh well.  
~☆~  
It's so dark.  
I'm cold.  
Help me.  
I don't want to be here.  
I can't be here.  
I'm not supposed to be here.  
Where are they?  
They were supposed to help me.  
To help us all.  
Liar.  
LIAR.  
……  
At least they're gone.  
I can finally rest.  
Uneasily, sure, but sleep nonetheless.  
I wonder how @#%*ERROR*^$÷@ is doing…  
I'm so lonely…  
Zzz…  
~○~  
They awoke, shaken by their dream.  
What is this?  
Why is this still haunting them?  
This isn't supposed to be their dream, how did….?  
3 years.  
Why hasn't the past left them yet?  
3….  
They need to go back.  
To finish things of for good.  
And then,  
They'll finally be free.

~☆~  
Landing on those golden flowers that once saved their life felt….  
Nostalgic.  
A major Deja Vu feeling despite being certain that they have already been down here.  
3 years.  
That's a long time of no repeats.  
Of not knowing what's going to happen next.  
It's uncomfortable being outside of their comfort zone for so long.  
Of not having the secure sense of being in control over everyone's fate, including their own.  
It's addicting.  
Well, that's enough sitting around, doing nothing.  
Looking around for any change, they noticed something glint in the midst of the bed of flowers.  
“The true knife…”  
Their most trusted companion, unavailable until the end of their little game.  
“Fate must really love me then…” grinning maliciously, they took the handle of the kitchen knife and swung it around for testing.

It felt like it was made for them.

They jumped up and brushed off any dirt of their favorite red hoodie and light grey shorts before stretching.

“..... What are you doing here?” Slightly startled, Frisk looked behind them to see Chara. They looked….  
Upset.  
Wouldn't blame them.  
It's not like they went along with Chara's little game.  
“To fix things once and for all.”  
So they can finally be free.

“Let's go then.” And Frisk obliged.

Once they entered the cave, the grasspatch in the center of the dark cavern wasn't the only thing there.  
There was a flower, a buttercup bigger than the others. It had a face, showing only one emotion.  
Shock.  
Genuine surprise.  
“F-Frisk! I'm surprised to see you here! W-what brings you here?” Frisk smirked and went over to the pathetic flower.  
“I'm here to end your miserable life, what else?” Flowey gave out a squeak in fear and was visibly shaking.  
“B-before that! Don't you want a guide…? The underground has changed since the last time you were here!”

“I think I can manage… but let me reward you for your loyalty!” The menacing glint in their wide open purple and red left eye made him think that it wasn't a good kind of reward.

All of a sudden, they swung the kitchen knife at him, and he barely plopped into the ground in time.  
“THAT'S RIGHT! RUN, YOU COWARD! FEAR ME!” They dropped their face for a second before closing their eye and continuing forward into the underground, not even waiting for Toriel to come.

 

“Let the games, begin.”


	2. The calm before the storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While the two brothers has a bit of a bonding with each of their friend (or in Sans' case, boss), the   
> Dust piling in the ruins is growing.

The horrible feeling that filled Sans’ shaking SOUL was almost unbearable. Like a foreshadowing for something terrible that's gonna happen in the near future.  
“Could it be…?” No, impossible. It's been too long, they're long gone.  
Whatever, he didn't have time for this.  
So he climbed out of bed and didn't even bother to eat before he teleported to the judgement hall.  
This is his life now.  
Not those weird nightmares of human children going insane.  
He sighed and looked on ahead.  
He was early to make up for yesterday, but it seemed like it didn't matter.  
There wasn't anyone in the hall.  
His SOUL froze for a second before he teleported to the King’s throne room.

“Asgore….?” Panicked, he looked around.  
His bad feeling couldn't have been true, right?  
“Oh? You're here early Sans.” a deep voice rumbled from the other side of the room.

It was Asgore, tending to some flowers. Relieved, Sans let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.  
“Yes, sorry. I wanted to make up for yesterday's mistakes by being early.” He said, apologetic.  
Asgore stood up and smiled at him.

“It's fine, Sans. You don't have to worry.” The king answered.   
But Sans couldn't help but feel bad.  
He served directly under the king and Asgore was watching his every move, he should be better than this.

“I really am a terrible Judge, huh?” He quietly said to himself, not intending for the king to hear. Confused, Asgore moved closer to him so that he could put his furry paw onto Sans’ shoulder.  
“What makes you say that?” Sans shrugged, casually brushing off Asgore’s hand.

“It's nothing, I should get to work. I'll be late if I don't leave.”  
Asgore watched him with sad eyes and quietly said “If you say so.” in a sigh. It's not like he could do anything.  
Right?  
~☆~

“Hey, Papyrus! Want to fight?” Undyne shouted to him as she summoned her spear.  
Papyrus’ smile tightened and he shrugged, not really feeling up to it right now.  
He heard footsteps approaching behind him and all of the sudden, his world turned monochrome.  
“Ugh, Undyne!” He complained while he summoned a bone to deflect her incoming attack.  
“What? Are you a whimp or something now? Show me what you're made of!” Undyne barked.  
He jumped back and sent off an array of short bones her way to slow her down.  
“I'm made of magic and bones. What else?” Papyrus simply answered.  
She pursed her lips and sent a yellow spear his way.  
He grimaced and turned around to dodge it, making it go back to Undyne.  
“I'm not in the mood, Undyne!” He cried out, and felt a bit irritated at her.  
She growled and grabbed the spear, successfully crushing it.  
“THAT'S ENOUGH, PAPYRUS!” She yelled, sadness for her friend in her words.   
“I know Sans is making you miserable, but you don't have to be this way! Just move out, dude!” She continued, silently asking herself how things ended up this way.  
He hesitated, but ultimately shook his head.  
“I-I can't. Who would take care of him? Not him. He barely eats and sleeps as it is. I can't just abandon him.” Papyrus said, almost desperately.  
A sigh escaped Undyne's lips as her spear disintegrated.  
“Alright. As long as it doesn't get too bad. Or else I'll kidnap you.” She mockingly threatened him. Papyrus snorted and smiled at Undyne.  
“Of course.” He mused with a chuckle.  
He didn't deserve her.  
How she stood out with being with his depressed self was a mystery.  
“Do you know how much I appreciate your existence in my life right now?” Papyrus said. She grinned and noogied him.  
“Hah! Of course I do! No need to get so sentimental with me! Come on, let's spar! For old times sake!” She answered instantly, her voice booming with excitement.  
He smiled and summoned a blue bone.  
“Alright.”  
~meanwhile, in the ruins~  
Frisk had killed a few froggits and moldsmals, but there was no sign of Toriel yet.  
Weird.  
Oh well, they suppose it is their fault for leaving them for 3 years.   
Things had changed. They could feel it.  
If Toriel wasn’t gonna come out, then they guessed they'd have to find her.  
Can't be that hard.  
There's only one place that comes to mind.  
Hmm…  
Shame.  
They wanted to be entertained by her innocence for a bit longer as they slaughter every single monster in these ruins.  
“How sad. Toriel isn't here to play by your rules. Guess she had better things to do.” Chara said.  
Frisk could hear the smirking without even needing to see it.  
“I don't care. Everyone is going to die either way, so she can play a bit more hide and seek before her inevitable death.” Frisk said, rolling their eyes.  
Chara stayed silent after that, watching Frisk emotionlessly as they stabbed every single monster in their way with the now very dusty, but still shiny kitchen knife.

When they got to the first save point, they were a bit confused.  
Why was there so many monsters just before the entrance to the ruins?  
Oh well.  
They saved their progress and moved on and up the staircase.  
Then they just solved all the puzzles they knew from heart.  
Or memory.  
Though these signs were weird.  
They made no sense.  
“Argh, whatever! Let's just go to the dummy already!” Frisk said, irritated at their confusion despite having read them over a thousand times.  
You'd think they'd know what they were doing at this point and solving every single mystery.  
They didn't.  
“You're the one stalling.” Chara pointed out.  
They glared at them and solved the remaining puzzles while fuming silently.  
“Weirdo.”  
~At the judgementhall~  
No monster came by today. Which was rare. And that fact didn't help to soothe his increasing anxiety.  
Since there were no other monsters, Sans hanged out with the king, to Asgore’s delight.  
“Would you like a cup of tea?” Asgore asked as he stood up from carefully inspecting the flower’s health.  
“No need. I don't want to bother you more than I have to.” Sans answered. Asgore sighed and sat on his throne.  
“Sans, look at me. You're not a bother. It's actually the opposite. I like having you around. It can get terribly lonely here.” Sans raised an eyebrow.  
“You? Lonely? Excuse me, your majesty, but can't you just have Undyne or someone else to accompany you? I'm sure any of your subjects would be honoured.” Sans said, barely containing a mocking snort.  
He smiled sadly and could feel his shame crawl.  
“No need. Since no troublemakers have come by, how about… you can go home early today? I think you could use that time to …. Recover sleep and such.”  
Sans scratched the back of his head and couldn't exactly protest, so he shrugged and bid his goodbyes before teleporting away.

‘Finally I can sleep for real’

~Back at the ruins again~  
Toriel hummed as she rearranged the books on her bookshelves after a well deserved cleaning, taking a break once in a while to read one she had forgotten about.  
“Oh dear, I wasn't aware I had this many books on snails!” She happily exclaimed. Though that wasn't necessarily a bad thing for her, seeing as she quite enjoyed snail.  
The books were greatly inspiring her to make a snail pie, and she decided why not?  
“A snail pie it is then.” Toriel hummed to herself.  
Though it was a great shame for her to eat it all alone.  
Sometimes, she wished a human would fall down here so she could take care of them.  
At least then her loneliness would be sated.  
She shook off the feeling and stood up again, and dusted off her rather old, but comfortable regal purple robe.  
“No time to mope! I've got a pie to make!” She excitedly said.  
And so, she went to the kitchen with a smile on her face, unaware of the dust piling in her ruins.  
Or the return of somebody she had never met and couldn't remember.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally done with chapter two!  
> Got some help from friends to make sure that the language and fluidity was extra spicy as to not bore you all.  
> So yeah, hope you enjoyed and stay tuned for part 3!


	3. The loss of a traitor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans wakes up with a lot of anxiety and shits on his brother as usual and Papyrus hangs out with Undyne.  
> (They may or may not have burned down her house...)  
> Meanwhile, Frisk is one step closer to Snowdin and the door separating the ruins from the rest of the underground.  
> :^)

Dust.  
Dust everywhere.  
It's suffocating.  
And you have to ignore it, or else it will get the better of you.  
Don't drown in it before the time runs out.  
The hourglass has some more in store for you.  
=)  
~☆~  
It was cold.  
Sans felt cold despite it being hot in his room.  
His SOUL quivered even more, to the point that his anxiety got the better of him and he simply couldn't sleep.  
He paced around in his dirty room, but not because he threw around a bunch of garbage or created another trash tornado, but because it was untouched in every corner of the room except for his bed.  
He managed a short nap before he woke up in cold sweat and a heavy SOUL.  
His room.  
It was so dusty.  
He could see the particles fly around.  
Sans got sickened as he watched it, and decided that maybe leaving his room was a good idea.  
After all, he still hadn't eaten, so a quick trip to the kitchen or so would do wonders to his mood.  
Or so he thought.  
The first thing he saw when he got downstairs was Papyrus, solving a puzzle. A sudoku maybe?  
Which didn't bother him as much as the fact that he was in his presence.  
Maybe he could skip out on the food…  
Nevermind.  
Papyrus had already noticed him by the look of his expression.  
“What are you doing here so early?”  
Papyrus mumbled, not really in the mood to put up with his brother's attitude.  
“Got to leave early. What, can't a skeleton have a meal in his own house?” Sans answered defensively.  
“Sure you can. I'll just get out of your way, your highness.” Papyrus said, derisive, as he stood up and bowed mockingly to him.  
“Just leave already.” Sans added, almost cutting Papyrus off.  
Papyrus rolled his tiny eyelights before leaving the room, probably to go to Undyne's.  
“Finally, some peace and quiet.” He let out a quiet sigh before moving towards the fridge.  
He could finally eat a proper meal for once.  
But his anxiety hadn't left.

~☆~  
Papyrus had indeed left to see Undyne at her place.  
He felt bitter about Sans and Undyne was doing her best to cheer him up without being too loud.  
But it felt like enough was enough.  
He was tired of feeling like this everytime he saw or thought about his brother.  
He was tired of feeling worthless and not being of any good use.  
He was simply tired.  
So he stopped moping for once and stood up, dried off his unshed tears before he looked at Undyne with determination.  
“Undyne? You know what? Let's make spaghetti. Just like old times!” Undyne's grin stretched wide, to the point where Papyrus wondered if it was hurting her cheeks at all.  
“Are you sure?” She cautiously asked, barely containing her excitement. Papyrus nodded, feeling motivated to do something for once.  
“ALRIGHT! Let's be extra passionate today!” Undyne went to get the ingredients needed and cracked her knuckles.

She threw the pasta and the sauce into the saucepan with all of her might, and missed the sound of broken stovetops.  
Papyrus was a bit startled at the suddeness and the intensity of it, but quickly started to smile again, pounding some tomatoes down to nothing but a gooey substance.  
“I forgot how fun this was!” Papyrus said, and felt wonder surge through him.  
“ONCE MORE! WITH FEELING!” Undyne yelled and Papyrus laughed in response.  
“LET'S MAKE THE GREATEST PASTA DISH TO EVER EXIST!” He yelled, “nyeh!”-ed a bit, before he realised what he had done.  
Undyne went slack jawed at his outburst and stood there frozen before getting almost literal fires in her eyes.  
“HELL TO THE FUCK YEAH! THAT'S WHAT I CALL PASSION! TURN ON THE HEAT! MAKE IT MATCH OUR INTENSITY! NGAAAAAAAAH" Papyrus did what she said and put the heat on max, since he felt fired up.  
Quite literally.  
Huh.  
There goes the alarm.  
“I think we need to evacuate, Undyne! It's not good for your fish lungs to breath in smoke like this!” He said, worry laced in his voice. She coughed several times before giving him a thumbs up.  
He could lead them both to the front door, but that might take too long, so he did what would be the unthinkable of him for others.  
He grabbed Undyne's hand and jumped out of the window.  
He could feel the flames licking his boots as glass was scattered everywhere and broke the laws of gravity and physics in order to safely land Undyne.  
“ARE YOU ALRIGHT? I HOPE I DIDN'T ACCIDENTALLY HURT YOU ALL TOO MUCH!” Papyrus asked, concerned for her well being.  
But she was surprisingly just smiling like a goof?  
“WHAT?” He instantly cringed and held the front of his throat, rubbing it like he had hurt it.  
“S-sorry-” He started to stutter, “i didn't mean to---"  
“HOLY FUCKING SHIT! I THINK THAT WAS THE MOST FUN WE'VE EVER HAD IN YEARS, PAPY!” Papyrus nodded in response.  
“I would agree! Though I'm sorry about your house.” He said sheepishly.  
She waved it off casually like it didn't really matter to her.  
“Heh, I can just crash over at your place! Just like old times!” She suggested, hopeful.  
He was just about to answer her when he realised that he was living in the capital.  
With the infamous judge.  
“I don't know, Undyne, what about Sans?” Papyrus asked, fiddling with his fingers.  
“Ugh, come on Papyrus! I don't think he cares or is even home to do so!” Undyne exclaimed, rolling her eyes, “And anyways, he can't exactly kick me out since I'm still a rank higher than him!” Her tone softened as she patted him a bit to reassure him.  
“Besides, if he tries anything, he's got to pass me first!” She said, a promise in her voice.  
“Of course" He said and sighed.  
There was no way to argue against Undyne once she had set her mind into something, was there now?  
“Heheh! Knew you would see the light! Anyways, last to the river person is a rotten egg!” She yelled, and ran with a pretty big head start.  
“Hey! No fair!” Papyrus said with amusement.  
“Catch me if you can!” Undyne was already far away, both of them laughing.  
~☆~  
There it was.  
The little cosy home at the end of the ruins, that once belonged to the monarchy.  
Now?  
The ex-queen was about to become nothing but dust in the wind.  
Frisk saved their progress at the yellow star, and heard Chara mutter something that was probably not worth their time and went inside.  
The living room was empty.  
Where could that goat be?  
“Let's play hide and seek~! The winner gets to kill the other! And I'm the seeker.” Quietly mused Frisk. Chara rolled their eyes, and felt like Frisk tried too hard to be a horror movie murderer.  
It's not even that intense in their eyes.  
Maybe they just lost the feeling when Frisk resetted around the 10th time.

“H-Hello? Is anyone there? I'm so scared and lonely…” Frisk called out in a higher pitched and more innocent sounding voice than normal.  
Chara scrunched up their face in disgust at that.  
“A human? ONE SECOND, MY CHILD!” A familiar motherly voice called out in the direction of the kitchen.  
“Found you~!” They whispered.  
They smiled widely and speedily approached the entrance to the kitchen.  
There she was, caretaker of the ruins, but also the traitor to her duties and responsibilities all because of a disagreement. To think that Frisk believed she was pure once upon a time.  
How saddening the reality is.  
Toriel was wearing a pink frilly apron with lots of hearts and snails on them, which Frisk thought was cute, and held a steaming hot plate of pie.  
“A-ah, sorry for not being there for you, my child, I was busy with other things… such as this pie! It's been a while since a human has fallen down here and---"  
“What kind of pie is that?” Frisk impatiently cut her off. She blinked in surprise and got a small smile going.  
“Why, it's snail pie of course!” Toriel happily said.  
Ew, snail pie.  
Why couldn't it have been butterscotch cinnamon pie?  
Eh, whatever. As long as it can fully heal them later on.  
“C-can I have a taste? I'm a bit hungry…” They said, looking down.  
That was a lie. Chara saw them eat the entire bowl of monster candy, without letting it fall. Of course, they saved a few, just in case their other stuff gets used up.  
Pretty impressive actually.  
“Of course you can, my child! Here, you can sit down while I grab you a plate, is that good?” Toriel waited for Frisk and left when they simply nodded as Frisk didn’t want to screw up their chance.  
She smiled widely and hummed a tune that Frisk recognized at the theme song to the ruins and turned around to put a slice onto the plate.  
Now.  
“Bye bye, old goat~!” Frisk said in a sing song voice as they stabbed Toriel in the back.  
They couldn't see her face just yet, but could hear the choked noises as clear as a day.  
Chara looked away slightly, because they didn’t want to face her as she turned around, surprise and betrayal evident on her face.  
“A traitor to her duties only has one destiny. And that is to get killed for their sins. Sweet dreams~!” Frisk giggled and watched her try to form a coherent sentence.  
“Y-you…. F-Frisk….?” She said as she dusted away.  
Frisk raised an eyebrow at that and shrugged.  
“Ew, there's dust on the pie. Gross.” Frisk stepped on the pink apron and took the entire plate with snail pie and blew the dust off it.  
“Eh, good enough.” They said and packed it into their backpack they remembered to take with them.  
“I'm tired, I'm going to sleep for a bit.” Chara didn't say anything as they crawled under their covers in their bed.  
Frisk smirked before dozing off.  
‘Heh.  
One boss monster down, plenty more to go.’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm actually pretty proud of this chapter!  
> It feels like I get to know more and more about my characters the more I write this.  
> Next chapter is gonna be a bit intense, but that's next time!  
> Hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it!


	4. Confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sans finally gets confronted about his shitty behaviour for the past years or so.

Sans was finally alone in the house.  
Papyrus had just left, making the place eerily silent.  
It gave him anxiety being there, as he could not stand the whispers in the back of his head, the doubt and horrid feeling gnawing on his mind.  
The quaking of his soul was almost too much for him, and he needed to get out.  
Fast.  
He couldn't stand it.  
He needed out.  
But where?  
He couldn't exactly go to the judgement hall since his work was done for the day because of Asgore insisting on him taking the rest of the day off, and he couldn't go to Grillby’s after what he had done.  
Waterfall was a nice place to relax, but the echo flowers might actually make him go insane….  
This was hard, but he couldn't blame anyone but himself for being put into this situation.  
He had nobody he could go visit to try and get his mind off of things.  
And no place else to go.  
But like hell was he gonna spend another minute in that house alone!  
Undyne was sure to be with Papyrus…  
It's funny, isn't it?  
Once upon a time, Sans was the most popular of the two skeletons and had many he could consider friends.  
Now, however….  
Wait.  
There is one person who might not hate him as much as the others he had betrayed.  
“Hopefully she won't shun me at first glance…” He muttered to himself as he walked to the river person.  
“But I always got my blackmail just in case…”  
~☆~  
“You won’t win this time, Mew Mew~Chan! I've got my special weapon, and I'm going to destroy you!” The villain of mew mew kissy cutie shouted.  
Alphys absentmindedly tapped away on her computer, feeling bored.  
She didn't have anything real to do anymore, since she didn't have the motivation and no one to give her orders.  
The king just kind of let her do her own thing after the creation of Mettaton, but figured that she couldn't do anything to help with their current situation or the souls.  
She had tried in earlier years to do something to impress him, she really did, but there was nothing she could think about that wasn't dangerous.  
Her first and only try with the DETERMINATION project failed utterly.  
So many mistakes were made and she couldn't afford to do anything like that again.  
Especially not mentally.  
As of now, she was barely emotionally stable with her increasing depression and anxiety problems, making her apathetic in some ways, but also utterly terrified.  
Terrified of her future.  
Terrified of disappointing those she love and look up to.  
Terrified of what she has become.  
But for now, she was surfing on the underweb and making remarks about how mew mew kissy cutie 3 was bad, but at least better than the sequel.  
And then she heard a knock on the giant metal doors.  
She stood up so fast that her keyboard got flipped upside down and knocked the empty cups of instant noodles down to the ground, spilling a little bit of the water that had remained in it.  
Alphys’ mind got riled up with thoughts of why somebody would visit the lab and if she had any recollection of who it might be, since it couldn't be Undyne.  
She had texted Alphys earlier that she was trying to cheer Papyrus up. Again.  
She collected herself and tried calming her nerves, hoping it wasn't a serial killer, and opened the door.  
And there stood somebody she never thought she would see again or wanted to see.  
“What are you doing here?” She asked, her tone flat.  
Sans grimaced at her tone and looked anywhere but her.  
“I was alone and---"  
She cut him off by trying to close the door on him, but he quickly shot an arm in the way.  
“Wait, Alphys please hear me out!” Sans said with a panicked expression.  
“Why should I?” Alphys asked, her voice laced with irritation.  
“If you don't, I'll tell Asgore about the failed DETERMINATION project.”  
Shit.  
She should've never let him try and help her out in the past.  
Would he actually do it?  
Well, Sans is an unpredictable character.  
“Fine. I'll listen. But that doesn't mean I'll like you or anything.” Sans gave out a tiny breath in relief and stepped inside, and immediately went to the sofa she had planted in front of her computer 2 years ago.  
“Making yourself comfy, huh?” She asked.  
He didn't answer and looked down into his hands.  
He was always one to put comfort before anything else, so she didn't understand why he wasn't wearing his hoodie anymore.  
Oh well, it wasn't her business.  
But now that she took a closer look, he looked more disheveled than usual with his obvious and dark eye bags and dim eye lights.  
Not to mention his outfit....  
Seriously, she could smell him from were she was standing!  
She admits that he wasn't the cleanest guy before, but this is just ridiculous!  
Her sharp gaze on him softened as she realized that he obviously wasn't feeling well.  
“Why did you come here?” Sans sighed and continued to stare at the floor.  
“I have this anxious feeling in my SOUL that only grows stronger for each day. And my nightmares doesn't help in the slightest. I feel like something bad is about to happen, or maybe is even happening, and I just couldn't stand being in the house alone.”  
Was his plan to make her empathize with him?  
If so, it was working.  
“O-oh geez… do you have any idea as to why you feel like that?” He shrugged, but he did look at the ceiling with a look she couldn't identify.  
“C-could it be that you feel bad about Papyrus?” Alphys quietly asked, as to not make him angry.  
“Papyrus? Why would I feel bad about Papyrus?” Sans asked and looked at her in confusion.  
“Don't play d-dumb. I know what you have done to him. Undyne t-told me.” She hissed out at him, her tone and gaze getting sharp.  
He didn't answer her aside from a poker face.  
“What I do to my brother is none of your concern. Just stay out of it, Alphys.”  
But she didn't.  
How could she after being told what he had done?  
“Are you s-serious right now? What you did, no, what you are doing, is clearly a-abuse! Papyrus is my best friend’s friend, and if he isn't feeling well, then both me and Undyne get affected! Because of you!” She was shouting by now, clearly fed up with his passiveness.

“I'm doing this for a reason and you wouldn't understand.” He muttered quietly.  
“You're right about me not u-understanding! Because no e-excuse would make me understand!”  
He was disgusting.  
What was he doing in the lab again?  
“I was afraid this would happen.” He said and stood up. He finally looked her in the eyes, and she could practically feel how tired he was through his gaze alone.  
He was usually grimacing, but now, his face was completely void of actual emotions except for tired.  
“I'm sorry Alphys for bothering you with my presence. I know you hate me. Everyone does. And I'm not saying this to make you pity me, it's an actual fact. But I couldn't stand being alone in that house. With the increasing anxiety. If anyone understands what I'm going through, it's you. And don't play like you're nothing like me, you've done many mistakes in your life. Many which are eating away at your mind and SOUL.”

She wanted to completely and utterly hate him, she really did.  
But he was right.  
Nobody is perfect. Especially not Sans or her.  
Plus, she couldn't stand seeing him like this, all miserable and tired.  
“.... I-if you want, you could stay here f-for the night.” She offered hesitantly.  
He waved it off as he shook his head.  
“Nah, I've bothered you way too much. Just wanted to talk to somebody without being yelled at.” He said and casually declined.  
“B-before you leave! I w-wanted to ask why y-you do this to Papyrus?”  
His posture turned a bit stiff and he didn't look at her anymore.  
That's when she finally got his expression.  
He was feeling guilt. Shame.  
But why?  
If he didn't like what he was doing, why did he do it?  
“Sans---" He cut her off and went by her.  
“I told you, you wouldn't understand. Nobody would.”  
She blinked at that and adjusted her glasses.  
“Wow, t-that was edgy.”  
He looked at her in disapproval, his usual grimace reappearing and he went through the metal doors.  
“Goodbye dr. Alphys.” She snorted as he slammed the door shut and Sans turned a little pink in embarrassment.  
He wasn't edgy…  
Right?  
~☆~  
Sans gave out a deep sigh and rubbed his face as he headed over to the riverperson's boat.  
What was he even doing anymore?  
Why did he decide to distance himself from the others?  
Why did he decide to make everyone hate him?  
But it's fine.  
Its whatever, really.  
He just needed a good night's rest.  
Then he wouldn't be thinking about this and his life would go back to normal.  
Wake up, work, go home, maybe eat, try to sleep, repeat.  
Then he could easily push away his emotions.  
So what if his lifestyle wasn't the healthiest?  
He brought this upon himself.  
He doesn't care anymore.  
And he can afford that.

That's when he spotted two figures running towards the same boat he was headed to.  
One blue and one white.  
He audibly groaned once he noticed it was Papyrus and Undyne and thought about hiding until they leave.  
But it was too late, because Undyne had spotted him.  
She stopped immediately and glared at him with a fierceness of a thousand suns.  
The way she was baring her teeth and scrounging up her face was obviously in disgust.  
A disgust she wasn't afraid to show.  
Especially when it came to himself.  
Papyrus noticed the lack of footsteps behind him and skidded to a halt, looking back with a big grin as if he was about to tease her for stopping when he spotted Sans as well.  
His face fell in an almost comical way and he quickly glanced over at Undyne in worry.

“What are you doing here?” Sans shrugged and continued down the same path he had been going, that is, to the boat that belonged to the riverperson.  
“Heading home. What does it look like I'm doing?” He said and couldn't help the bit of sass that came.  
He really should tone down, especially with Undyne.  
She's a ticking time bomb.  
“Undyne! Let's just go…” Papyrus shouted at her.  
But she couldn't.  
Her best friend's abuser was standing right in front of her! She couldn't just let this one slide!  
So whenever Sans tried to go around her to reach the boat, she would go back to stand in his way, growing more irritated as she muttered curses and threats at him.

Sans was slowly getting fed up with her behavior and decided that he had enough.  
So he teleported to the boat.  
Bad move on his part.  
He didn't have enough magic or energy, and was on his knees, panting heavily as the sweat ran down his forehead.  
But he quickly stood up again, narrowing his eyesockets at Undyne as he signalled the riverperson to go.  
But the boat didn't move.  
Confused, he looked at them and saw them staring straight at Papyrus and Undyne, and then at Sans.  
There was nothing but darkness in that hood of theirs.  
“Tralala… If you want this boat to move, you'll have to get along…” Both Sans and Undyne groaned at that, but Sans plopped down, defeated as he patted the boat with his hand.  
“Alright, whatever. Hop on…”  
He was forced to do this since he wasted what little spare magic he had left to teleport onto the boat.  
And knowing Undyne, she was too stubborn and prideful to simply walk away.  
This was the only solution.

Undyne crossed her arms in clear defiance because why should she listen to what he says?  
Papyrus sighed, knowing she wouldn't do anything remotely cooperative with Sans.  
“Sure.” They could just run to his house, but Undyne was already in a pissy mood.

“Wait what?!? Papyrus, you don't have to listen to that jerk--!” But he didn't listen.  
He just silently made his way to the boat, tensing up as he watched his brother’s face.  
“Ugh, fine!” Undyne yelled frustratedly and stomped over to sit next to Sans.  
Don't misinterpret this, she did this to put distance between the brothers.  
Like hell she was gonna put her pride over her friend’s safety!  
Once Papyrus sat down with the other two, which he thought was a bit odd since they usually don't sit on the boat, the Riverperson finally took off.  
Undyne was glaring at the water when she spotted something yellow in the reflection.  
Surprised, she looked up just in time for the flash of yellow to disappear.  
“Hey, did you see that?!” Undyne said, looking between the ground and Papyrus.  
But he just shrugged sheepishly.  
“Sorry. What was it that you saw?”  
“Oh, uh, it's nothing…”

“Tra la la… Where to, fellas?” Fellas?  
Weird choice of wording.  
Oh well.  
“Capital.” They slightly nodded and hummed to themself, if only to ease the awkward tension in the air.  
The trio could tell that it was going to be a long night.  
~☆~

They walked alongside each other, and Sans stared straight ahead while Undyne glared at him, and Papyrus looked down at the ground.

It was unavoidable.  
Even if Undyne and Papyrus ran ahead, they'd still end up in the same place as Sans.  
So it was better to prepare for the inevitable.  
The silence was unbearable for everyone, especially for Sans, but nobody dared to speak.

At least they finally made it to the house.  
As soon as Sans stepped inside, he speedwalked up the stairs and immediately went inside his room.  
He really didn't want to deal with Undyne right now.  
Or ever.  
Plus, taking a nap or just straight up sleeping might replenish his energy.  
As he laid on the bed, he let his thoughts wander, but at least he wasn't as anxious to be in his room.  
In a way, he was relieved that both Undyne and Papyrus were home.  
He didn't have to be alone in this house.  
He weakly smiled before closing his eye sockets, making an attempt to sleep.

~☆~  
As soon as he was gone, Undyne decided to show off her irritation by suplexing the couch Papyrus had decided to sit on.  
Needless to say, his shriek of surprise wasn't very manly.  
But Undyne ignored it as she rather roughly set it down.  
“Ugh! Who does that punk think he is?!?  
I hate that guy!!” Papyrus sighed but didn't say anything but stand up besides her and guide her to sit on the sofa with him.  
“Undyne, please calm down. He isn't worth the fight.”  
She took a deep breath, but she couldn't calm down, and Papyrus knew that.  
“Want to watch MTT?” He asked hopefully.  
“Mmhmm… Not a big fan, sorry.” He nodded,understanding.  
“T-that's fine! We can do something else, right Undyne?” She nodded hesitantly.  
“Like what?” She asked.  
“Like cooking!” She let out a snort in surprise and laughed.  
“That's the entire reason I am here, you dork!” She said, nooging him.  
“Please don't noogie me!” He pleaded, but his laugh just egged Undyne on.  
“Okay, so what is there to do around here?”  
Undyne asked after calming down.  
“We could… solve some puzzles?” She seemed to think about it for a minute.  
“What… kind of puzzle?”  
Papyrus lit up and tried to contain his excitement as he got some out and put them onto the table.  
“First off, we have the classics, mostly made for kids. Jigsaw, sliding tile puzzles, Rubik's cube and whatnot.” Undyne stared at them in contemplation.  
“Then we have some lateral thinking puzzles, word search puzzles, sudoku, the soma cube, even riddles are puzzles!” At this point, he couldn't keep his voice down as he smiled broadly at Undyne.  
“You… really love puzzles huh?” She stated teasingly.  
He blushed a dark red and leaned back into the cushions in embarrassment.  
“Maybe…?” Undyne chuckled at his antics and shook her head.  
“You're so cute, I swear.” Papyrus cleared his throat and sat back up, still blushing slightly as he focused on the puzzles laid in front of them.  
“S-so! Which puzzle?” She shrugged and grinned at him.  
“Why don't you pick one? To be completely honest, I don't know that many puzzles. Or what they do.” Papyrus sat and thought about it for a second before completely turning to her.  
“What about riddles? Knowing you, you'd get too impatient to solve any of these puzzles.” He teased.  
“What's that supposed to mean?!” Papyrus backed up a little just in case she wanted to noogie him again.  
“Nothing! Come on, I'll start.” Undyne huffed, but reluctantly leaned back into the sofa.  
“I'll do an easy one for starters. What five letter word becomes shorter if you add two letters into it?”  
It hadn't even been 3 seconds and Undyne already looked stumped.  
“What the hell? How does a word become shorter if you add…” The moment she said shorter and trailed off, a light bulb seemed to go off in her head.  
“THAT'S IT! It's short! And if you add two letters into it, it becomes short-er! Man I'm good at this!” Papyrus chuckled and applauded her.  
“Well done! Do you want to try?” She shook her head.  
“Nah, I'm not good at coming up with things on the spot. Hit me with another one! And make it harder!”  
Papyrus smiled and decided to follow her wishes.  
“Alright. You can break me without touching me or even seeing me. What am I?” Undyne looked at him with disbelief and furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.  
“Breaking something without physically touching it or seeing it… So you can't suplex it… What other ways is there to break something?!” She asked, mostly talking to herself.  
“Wait, not something, but maybe someone? Breaking someone without touching or seeing….” Papyrus blinked.  
This wasn't exactly the direction he thought she would go.  
“If not their body, and not their SOUL, and not their mind… their heart? Is the answer a heart?” Undyne asked.  
Papyrus’ bonebrows shot up in surprise and scratched his mandible.  
“Errr, well, the answer is technically correct, even if it wasn't the one I had in mind… But sure?” He said, shrugging.  
“What's that supposed to mean?! I thought there was only one answer to riddles!” Undyne said.  
“Not necessarily? The answer was a promise, but heart is good too!” Papyrus insisted.  
“Oh. I see. Yeah, that makes sense. But so does my answer!”  
“Exactly.” Papyrus said, nodding.  
“Anyways, give me a better one.” Papyrus wracked his head for a challenging one.  
“Fine. A monster fell off a 30 foot ladder, but they didn't get hurt at all! How is this possible?” Undyne smirked and crossed her arms.  
“Easy. They could fly.”  
“Wrong.” She was definitely surprised to hear that from him, seeing as she was convinced she had the right answer.  
“What?! Okay fine, they were made of slime or something.”  
“Wrong again.”  
“The ladder was under water!”  
“No!” She was getting increasingly more frustrated with each answer she got wrong and wondered if there even was an answer.

“Trick question! The ladder was the one who fell!”  
“Undyne! Oh my gosh… Do you want the answer?”  
“No! I can do it!” She had tried this hard just to figure it out, why would she give up now?  
“Do you want a hint?”  
“No!”  
“What about the answer then?”  
“You just asked me that! And my answer doesn't change.”  
“Then you're definitely wrong. And by law, I need to tell you the answer.”  
“Wait, what law?”  
“Hey, I didn't mean that my answer to the riddle wasn't wrong, i meant that I didn't want the answer to--- forget it. Just give me it.” She said, giving up.  
“The answer is…”  
“Yeeees…?” It killed her to have him build up the suspense so much when she knew that the answer was stupid based off his goofy grin.  
“The monster was standing on the bottom step.”  
“Oh, that's just bullshit!”  
“Pfft. You've got to remember that all riddles are basically trick questions!” Papyrus said, snickering to himself.  
“That's insane!”  
“It's the way of puzzles, my dear! Want to be tricked agai--- I mean hear another riddle?” His sneaky little grin wasn't very sneaky, and both him and Undyne knew this, which just egged her on even more.  
“Ohohoho you little---"  
Papyrus laughed again as Undyne decided to suplex him while he struggled to break free.  
Undyne laughed along with him and they wrestled for a bit on the floor when they heard footsteps on the stairs.  
Undyne stopped and stood up, glaring at Sans, who had decided to go to the kitchen.  
He just couldn't sleep, so he thought that maybe food would help.  
But he lost his appetite as soon as he noticed who glared at him.  
“What? Never seen a guy enter his own kitchen in his own house?” Undyne growled at that.  
Papyrus stood also up and tried to calm her down so that she wouldn't accidentally dust Sans by throwing the couch on him.  
“How dare you just waltz down here right in front of me?! And in front of Papyrus?!”  
Sans sighed and pinched the top of his nasal cavity in irritation.  
“What did I just say? I. Live. Here. I pay the rent. I pay for the food. Neither of you do that. So I'm legally allowed here. Now scram, ya big tuna head.” He grumbled at her, turning around to make something for himself.  
Insulting her might not have been the best move by him. Especially not with the spear lodged onto the cabinet right above his head.

“What did you call me, you big sack of shit?!” She yelled, rushing right past Papyrus who had been standing in her way, eyesockets bulging out in panic.  
“Please Undyne! He's tired, he doesn't know what he's saying!” Sans raised an eyebrow at Papyrus’ poor attempt at excusing him and smirked.  
“Yeah I'm tired. Tired of your presence. Both of yours. Can't you just hang somewhere else?” She became even more pissed and grabbed Papyrus by the shoulders, only to put him behind her.  
“Now listen closely, you asshole. I will not stand for your insults and verbal abuse. You're just a idiotic skeleton with too much authority on your hand. And if you don't behave, I will personally dust you. Capiche?” Sans shook his head even as Undyne was inches apart from his face, chuckling bitterly as he gave her a grimace.  
“Oh? And who exactly do you think you are? You're just an overgrown fish with anger issues and spears. You think you know what's best for my brother? Obviously you don't if he can't fight his own battles without you butting in.” He stepped back and looked her dead in the eyes challengingly.

“In short, it's none of your damned business.”  
Undyne smiled at him.  
A sickenly sweet smile that put Papyrus on edge as he saw the murderous glint in her eye when she summoned spears inches away from Sans’ body.  
“I warned you, punk ass.” Papyrus decided that he had enough of this and stepped in between the two, hoping to prevent Undyne from shishkabobing Sans to death.  
“Undyne come on, don't kill him! Yes, he can be a bit mean, but he's still my older brother!” His SOUL hurt when he said these words.  
It had been so long since he last could call Sans his older brother with joy in his tone.  
Where did it all go wrong?

“Nobody cares, Papyrus. Just shut up and stay out of this. It's no longer about you.” Okay, that's it.  
Undyne was just about to spear Sans’ eyesocket when Papyrus took a firm grip of her hand.  
“Let me handle this.” Undyne blinked in surprise at his change of tone and stepped back.  
“I just told you to stay out of this. Stars, can't you even follow a simple request?”  
Papyrus frowned, but he didn't back down.  
Instead, he stepped closer to him.  
Sans was starting to get confused.  
“You're right. I haven't been standing up for myself lately. However, I believe now is the time to change that.”  
Papyrus let out a shaky breath before staring his brother right in the eyesocket, a stare as cold as Snowdin.

“I've been putting up with your insults for what? 3 years. 3 whole years. That's disgusting. I have no idea why you changed so suddenly, but there is just no feasible excuse for this.” This is it.  
He was finally telling Sans how he felt about this.  
Maybe he would finally realize how hurt he's been?  
He hoped that this would be an eye opener for the best.  
“You're not only a shitty brother, you're becoming shitty in general. I am honestly disappointed to see you become like this. Sure, I'm the younger brother, but I deserve more than this from you.” Sans didn't say a thing, his expression hadn't even moved from being blank.  
“Papyrus---" Undyne tried to ease the tension by maybe reminding him that he isn't alone in this.  
“Undyne. Please. He's right.” Papyrus said, cutting her off from talking.  
“And I really mean it. I should've stood up for myself a long time ago. Maybe things wouldn't have turned out like this. But now? You're probably long gone. To sum up my thoughts, I hate you. And I'm gonna respect your wish and get out of your non-existent hair. Let's go Undyne.” He said, walking to the front door.  
Neither Undyne nor Sans moved, but were looking at each other stunned.  
“W-wait up, Pap!” Undyne yelled after him.  
She caught up with him and the two left the house, leaving behind Sans.  
“Where are you going?” He didn't say anything for a while, not until he spotted a yellow flower in the middle of the street.  
“Meet me in the wishing room in half an hour. I've got something to do.” Undyne felt concerned over Papyrus’ behavior.  
It really was a complete 180 from how he was earlier.  
A little sad, sure, but he tried to be cheery!  
Now he was serious in a way she had never seen him like before.  
But she listened to him for lack of better things to do.  
Plus she wondered what he was up to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for being gone for 2, almost 3 months.  
> I really am.  
> I've just been so busy with life and such and I was afraid that I wouldn't do this chapter justice.  
> I made it 4500+ words as an apology for making you all wait for so long.  
> But things are finally escalating and I can't wait until you guys get to read chapter 5!  
> That's when all of the fun begins =)  
> Anyways, hope you enjoyed this filler chapter and I'll see you guys in hopefully less than 2 months lmao


	5. Ashes to ashes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Papyrus is warned about the human's approach and decides to take action

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys! Sorry it's been so long! I've been having a bit of trouble with this chapter and real life problems, but hey, at least I'm updating now and not next year, right?  
> Anyways, enjoy!

It was weird. Everything seemed so…. Quiet.  
And different.  
For one, Sans wasn't there to greet Frisk at the gate and the general vibe of the forest was…  
Off in a way.  
Sure, it was always ominous, but this time it felt like they were intruding.  
Like they didn't belong here.  
They decided to not linger in the woods for longer than they have to and speedwalked out of it and to the station with random condiments.  
Not only was there no sign of Sans, but no Papyrus either.  
Could they have died?  
When Frisk fell down again, they didn't believe Flowey when he said that the changes were major.  
But could the 3 years really have impacted the course of this timeline so much?  
There was only one way to find out.  
~☆~  
The fact that all puzzles were deactivated didn't help their suspicions and Chara being unnaturally quiet made them go on high alert despite knowing the underground like the back of their hand.  
So when the dog couple approached them from behind, Frisk jumped several feet into the air and slashed out on reflex, instantly rendering the two into dust.  
They didn't even manage to get a glimpse of the two before they disintegrated, but Frisk couldn't care less.  
Hunting down monsters was kind of boring, but killing them was worthwhile.  
Though they did find the lack of the skeleton brothers unnerving and disappointing, it wouldn't steer them away from their goal of eradicating the entire underground.  
It wasn't until they came across Snowdin town that the tension in their body seemed to melt away from the familiarity.  
Obviously, it was abandoned just like all those other runs, but nobody would dare to sneak up on them in fear of getting killed.  
Just like how it should be.  
“I wonder if I'm going to meet Papyrus here…” Whether they would admit it or not, the skeleton brothers amused them.  
A lot.  
It's probably what drove them to keep killing in the first place, just to see their reactions.  
Well, if they want the chance of seeing Papyrus again, they should get to their house, now shouldn't they?  
They smiled to themself at the thought of meeting them again.  
Once and for all.  
~☆~  
“You better give me a good explanation as to why you're showing up like this.” Papyrus mumbled as he stared at the small flower in front of him and waited for an explanation.  
Flowey decided to go straight to the point.  
“There's a human who's slaughtering monsters with no mercy. I came here to warn you.” Papyrus blinked in surprise, as he had not expected this answer and urged Flowey for details.  
“Well, if you're not lying, where is this human now?” Flowey's petals curled in slight anxiety as he frowned.  
“They're probably in Snowdin by now.” He was really happy that he decided to ask Undyne to meet him in the wishing room and not in his old house as he had thought about doing and wracked his brain for things to do.  
“If there's a murderous human going around, we should get prepared. I mean, intent is everything and these clothes won't stand a chance. Maybe some armor would. But how am I gonna get armor in such a short period of time?” He really had no idea.  
Maybe he could ask Undyne, but then again, that would probably take too long.  
Flowey perked up as he remembered something.  
“Temmie village has some really strong armor. Don't know how they got it, but it's best to save the questions for later.” Papyrus rubbed his arm nervously and looked around.  
“But isn't it pretty far?” Flowey nodded, but still seemed confident.  
“I know a shortcut.”  
~☆~  
“Where could that punk be?” Undyne muttered, feeling impatient.  
He was supposed to meet up with her in the wishing room, so where could he be?  
He's 25 minutes late!  
Sure, he had called 10 minutes later that he was going somewhere to check up on something, but he should've returned by now!  
The whispers of the echo flowers were enough to drive her insane, especially since the flowers repeated her mutters.  
She had been pretty busy lately, with help Alphys out and the Judge.  
Ugh, she just hated that guy!  
And what he had done to Papyrus!  
But she can't supplex him into understanding.  
He's a bit too weak for that.  
And Asgore wouldn't like that either.

She tried to call him again, but he didn't pick up.  
Again.  
Frustrated, she threw her phone away onto some poor echo flower that repeated the rings.  
“NGAAAAAAH! THAT'S IT! I'M GONNA LOOK FOR HIM!” She yelled, fed up with everything at this point and stormed off to look for him in Snowdin.  
It was a good place to start at least.  
“He better have a good excuse for being this late!”  
~☆~  
“Why is this armor so expensive???” Sure, Flowey had told him that it was really good, but for 9999g?!?!?!?  
It was outrageous!  
No college costs that much, right?  
He had to try and negotiate with the shopkeeper since the entire fate of the underground could be in his hands.  
“Please, there's a rampaging human killing monsters left and right! I need it to stop them!” He pleaded with a twinge of desperation laced in his voice.  
“TeM dOn'T kNowS… U coULds B liYigN!!1!” He groaned audibly and glanced at Flowey for help.  
Flowey sighed and went underground only to pop up right inbetween Papyrus and the Temmie.  
All of a sudden, he plopped down a huge sack of gold on the box, surprising both Papyrus and Temmie.  
“AWAWAWAWA! D-daTs… a LOt oF moNeYz!!! TEm cAn gOeS 2 CoLleGs nOWs! YayA!” Flowey grimaced.  
“Yeah, yeah… just hurry up and give us the damn armor…” Temmie nodded and with surprising strength, managed to throw a whole suit of armor into Papyrus’ arms.  
How exactly did Flowey get such a huge sum of money and why did he have it with him so conveniently?  
It almost felt like he knew things that Papyrus didn't, but then again, if he knew about the human coming, he could've just gotten the money before coming to Papyrus and suggest going to tem shop.  
“Hurry up and put it on! We don't got much time!” Flowey demanded and effectively snapped Papyrus out of his thoughts.  
He felt slightly awkward as he tried to put on this suit of armor in front of the temmie and Flowey, but he had bigger things to worry about.  
Like the human.  
So he managed to somehow get it on and ran out of the village.  
The armor was pretty clunky and in several pieces that had been difficult to put on fast, but if it's good, it's probably worth it.  
Even though it's slowing him down slightly with the weight and the constricting of his movement.  
He had run past the wishing room when he remembered that he was supposed to meet up with Undyne, but that had to wait.  
Surely she would understand that he needed to go to Snowdin first and take care of this human.  
To whatever price necessary.  
~☆~  
That damned mist that exists for no apparent reason really annoyed the hell out of Frisk, but they wouldn't let anyone know.  
They just didn't like the feeling of being vulnerable, to be blind and not know who or where anything might pop up.  
So it was a giant relief when they got out of it.  
“Why are you so scared? I thought you knew the underground like the back of your hand.” Chara taunted as the got closer to Frisk's face.  
It was almost like they were intentionally trying to rile Frisk up in an attempt to distract them, which surprisingly worked.  
“Shut up. I just don't want to get killed is all.”  
“Why? You can just respawn.” That was true, but it wasn't like Frisk didn't get sudden bursts of adrenaline as their fight or flight instincts kick in from the sudden threat of death.  
They were still human after all, no matter what anyone says.  
Instead of trying to explain it to Chara, they ignored them and focused on the path ahead and noticed that Papyrus was running in their direction with a suit of armor on him.  
Is he in the the royal guard now???  
Whatever, Frisk had finally seen him and it was time to end his life.  
They ran into Papyrus, knife high in the air with a crazed look in their wide open eyes and slashed down with all of their might.  
Papyrus froze and clamped his eyesockets shut, ready to feel the searing pain of a blade cutting through his armor and into his bones.  
But it never happened.  
Instead when he opened his eyes again, he was met with the most horrific sight.  
Undyne with her arms splayed out in a protective manner, standing in between the human and him, with a big gash on her front.  
“U-Undyne…?” Papyrus managed to croak out in disbelief as he carefully got to her side.  
She was coughing and fell down to her knees, clutching her abdomen and glaring at the human.  
“Papyrus… D-don't let this human g-get away with this… P-protect those w-who can't d-defend themselves… Captain o-of the royal g-guard…” The more she spoke, the more she began dusting, and he couldn't keep his eyesockets from welling over with tears as he too got on his knees and held her close, up until she was barely held together.  
“T-tell A-Alphys-s th-that… I'm so s-sorry…”   
And then she dusted.  
He couldn't believe his eyes.  
Why should he?  
The strongest person he knows who is also his best friend just…  
Dusted.  
Right in front of him.  
And he didn't do anything.  
Maybe this was all a bad dream…?  
This… this isn't right.  
It couldn't be.  
Undyne is strong, she would never die like this, especially not from a single hit.  
She's okay.  
Right?  
“Undyne… are you there? Undyne…” his form shook as he stared at the fine dust falling in between his fingers like sand, barely processing anything happening around him.  
She isn't dead.  
She couldn't be.  
“Undyne, if you're really dead, I'll kill you. You hear me?” He muttered lowly to himself as he grabbed some of the dust mixed with snow from the ground and tried to deny any of this happening.  
Meanwhile, Frisk was relishing the development.  
Never in their previous runs did they manage to break Papyrus down quite like this.  
It was as interesting as it was hilarious.  
“God, you're pathetic. Can't you see the damn dust in your hand? She's dead. She'll never come back.” Frisk taunted, waiting for a reaction from him.  
He snapped his attention to Frisk with an unidentifiable look on his face.  
It put them off slightly, but they stood their ground.  
“Y O U .” The suddenly dark and venomous tone intruiged Frisk as they cocked their head.  
“Me?” Papyrus’ shoulders shook as he clenched the dust and snow in his gloved hands tightly.  
“I MAY NOT BE A HERO LIKE UNDYNE, I MAY NOT BE AS STRONG AS HER, BUT I SWEAR TO YOU THAT I WILL CARRY OUT HER WILL. EVEN IF IT KILLS ME.” Something began to happen to the dust in his hands since something glowed in it.  
“BECAUSE I AM PAPYRUS, THE NEWEST   
CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD AND YOUR BIGGEST NIGHTMARE.” He stood up as soon as he said that and Frisk could feel a change in the air, a sort of static and suddenly a blinding light engulfed their vision.  
The next thing they know, Papyrus’ armor has completely changed from being somewhat mediocre looking to looking like it was inspired by Undyne's armor in her undying form, dark as the night with almost glowing reddish orange accents.  
Papyrus himself had summoned a bone that had a sharp point at the end of it, kind of like a fencing sword.  
What caught them off guard the most however, was the giant Gaster blasters behind him, charging with enough magic energy to kill anyone within a miles radius.  
“En guarde, filth.”


	6. Dust to dust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A fight breaks out between the human and Papyrus while Sans is freaking out on the other side of the underground.

“En guarde, filth.” He spat out and hoisted his bone sword into the air, before swiftly pointing it at them.  
Frisk was frozen in fear at the sight of that blaster and couldn't dodge in time for the beam, so it hit them and rendered them to nothing but dark stains in the snow and what's left of their footprints.  
He grinned.  
He had done it.  
He had avenged Undyne!  
That evil human was finally dead!  
He let out a burst of maddening laughter, one that was hardly sane sounding, but he didn't care.  
He was a hero.  
Or, he was, until he heard the familiar sound of a knife striking raw fish skin.  
He snapped out of his thoughts and looked down to see him holding a mixture of snow and dust.  
Looking up, he saw Frisk smiling innocently at him.  
What?  
Had he fantasized so hard about how he would kill that human that he thought it was real?  
How had he lost himself in the moment like that?  
He roughly shook his head to clear his mind and spilled a few tears before looking up at Frisk with newfound confidence.  
He slowly got up on his feet, the scarf that he had wrapped on his wrist now resting in its rightful place wrapped around his neck, billowing in the misty wind. It made him look more epic than he felt that he was, so he decided to say a few words to that pest before he obliterated them.  
“Now, I may not know who you are or why you are doing this, but I swear to you, that I, Papyrus, will strike you down so that you may not hurt another being! For I, am the newest captain of the royal guard!” And just like in his daydream, a blinding light engulfed him and filled him with a sensation he had never felt before.  
One that made him feel powerful and confident. Like he could do anything he set his mind to.  
DETERMINATION.  
And with this new power and cool looking armor, he decided to summon his giant Gasterblaster and charged it up for the final moment of that creature's life.  
“This is how your journey ends, human. Prepare yourself.” Instead of the fear that he had anticipated crossing their face, they looked confident. Even arrogant.  
“Oh? Well, why don't you try?” Papyrus tsked and released the beam that had been powering up inside his enormous weaponized skullhead, instantly rendering Frisk to dust.  
Or that was what he thought would happen, but instead, he catches the glint of a knife after the smoke cleared and narrowly dodged what would be been a fatal hit.  
He heard the ripping of fabric and looked down to see the end of his scarf torn and sighed in relief.  
Then he used his bone sword to impale through their back and directly into their SOUL.  
Frisk fell unceremoniously onto the snow, coughing and sputtering as the pure white snow turned red because of the blood.  
What an exhilarating feeling it was to see his opponent slowly die in front of him, dragging on the suffering they should feel.  
This is karma.  
And he loved it.  
He risked a smile and even a small chuckle before turning around and closing his eyes.  
“Perhaps…. This is all just a bad dream…” He mumbled to himself and waited a few seconds before opening his eyes.  
He was hit with a wave of Deja Vu after seeing Frisk for the third time, but they looked angry.  
He was confused.  
What in the world was happening?  
Was he having a daydream within a daydream?  
Frisk used the moment of confusion to try to stab him with their knife, but he easily dodged and sent a few bone attacks their way.  
It was odd since he didn't have Undyne's dust in his hands, but the new and improved cool looking armor already.  
He dodged a few more times before he felt vines creep up his leg and to his arm, halting his hand from stabbing Frisk.  
“Don't kill them!” a familiar voice whispered into his skull.  
“Why not?” He whispered back.  
“Watch out!” Cried Flowey as he saw Frisk swing their weapon once more.  
Papyrus snapped out of it and jumped back, knife only slightly gracing his armor.  
That was a close call.  
“Listen, don't kill them,” Flowey begged. Papyrus still didn't understand. He thought that the entire point of getting the Temmie armor was so that he could stand a chance in a fight with them.  
“They can RESET the world.” Flowey finally whispered after moments of Papyrus dodging.  
“What?”  
“Their death triggers a RESET. You weren't imagining things, they were real.” Papyrus frowned as he shot blue bones up from the ground and underneath their feet, trapping them in it.  
“I don't understand.” He confessed and calculated his next move.  
“I guess there really is no other way then, huh?” Flowey said as he sighed sadly.  
Why was he so upset looking?  
Flowey summoned pellets, but instead of the usual white, they were red.  
Papyrus' eyesockets widened when the pellets grazed his skull.  
Images of a million timelines and alternate realities flew past in his mind's eye, stunning him temporarily.  
Frisk took the chance to lodge their knife straight into his chest, which knocked the wind out of him and sent him into a snowpoff a few feet away.  
He slightly coughed as he wiped his mouth, trying to process everything at once.  
He was feeling even more determined, which made him feel slightly off balance as his skull was pulsating with the feeling.  
“There, that should do it. You ok?” Flowey asked.  
Papyrus shook his head.  
How did that human get out of that bone trap?  
He looked down at their legs and saw torn pantlegs and bloodstains and grimaced at the sight.  
He had a real lunatic at his hands, that's for sure.  
“What did you do?” Papyrus asked.  
“I gave you my DETERMINATION.” This surprised him.  
Why did Flowey, a monster, have DETERMINATION in the first place? A memory that wasn't his own answered that question.  
He wasn't a monster.  
He used to be one but isn't anymore.  
“Then why did you give me it?” He asked quietly as he began to stand up.  
“So that you may have answers to your questions. Besides, you have better use with this than me.” Papyrus frowned.  
“So this isn't their first rodeo in the underground?” Flowey shook his head.  
“But you have to be careful, they may not have that high LV or EXP, but that knife, coupled with their intent, can leave a permanent mark. You might survive a few more hits, but it's best to avoid them at all costs.”  
“I thought so.” He summoned two smaller Gaster blasters, one with orange accents and one with blue.  
He didn't even know he could do that, but it was time to explore his newfound powers anyways.  
For the safety of everyone.  
“Let's dance, Frisk.”  
~☆~  
Meanwhile, Sans was feeling sick to his stomach with nausea and anxiety, no less because of the overbearing sense of Deja Vu.  
Sometimes he wished he could remember, but right now, he's kinda glad that he doesn't.  
He had been right next to the king when this feeling overpowered him and sent him to his knees.  
If it weren't for him being a skeleton, he was sure that he would be puking right now.  
But maybe that would get the gross feeling out of his chest.  
“Sans, are you alright?” Sans shook his head.  
How could he be?  
“Can't you feel it too? I can't be the only one.” Asgore looked confused for a moment, which caused Sans to clutch tighter at his chest.  
“I'm so sorry… God, will you forgive me?” As much as it concerned Asgore that Sans was acting this way, he felt that maybe the judge needed to confess a few things himself.  
“Then speak. Lighten the load in your heart.”  
Sans’ shoulders shook as he took a deep breath, casting quick glances at the entrance and the barrier room.  
“I think… that a human has come to kill us all. My king, you have to leave and get to safety. Who knows what that human could do.” A wave of dread and familiarity washed over Asgore and he too knelt down to rest a comforting hand on Sans’ back.  
“So you remember too, huh?” Surprised, he looked up at Asgore with a new sense of grief.  
“I thought I was the only one. I-I've tried my best to prepare for this moment, but I just can't. I don't want to face my nightmares once more. What should I do?” He felt something well up inside his eyesockets, blurring his vision.  
He reached to rub it off and felt surprised that it was tears.  
He heard the rustling of armor and the king’s heavy robe his the ground before he felt the soft fur press against his skull.  
Asgore was hugging him.  
Sans didn't say anything, but let the tears fall onto the ground and smear his glasses, but he couldn't bring himself to care.  
The end of the world was approaching after all and there was nothing he could do to stop it.  
He felt weak, stupid and hopeless.  
He had so many regrets and it weighed down on him like a boulder, taunting, and whispering in the back of his mind, never letting him forget.  
“I wish… I could've done something differently.” Asgore's hand was softly petting Sans’ head, slightly calming him down.  
Of course, the king would treat him this way, he used to be a father.  
And then…  
“Asgore, I'm asking you this as both your judge and your subject, if the human comes in here, I want you to fight them. For the future of our kingdom. Begin the evacuation of the monsters that live in Waterfall and Hotland. It will take ages for the human to get to the capital. Promise me you will do this.” Sans pleaded, wanting Asgore to understand him.  
“Of course. But what about you?”  
“If they come here, I will have to do my job.” At that, Sans stood up and wiped his tears away and slightly frowned at Asgore.  
“Judgement will be passed on today.”  
~☆~  
Orange, blue, orange, blue, dodge, strike, dodge, dodge.  
There was no rhythm or predictability in their moves, it seemed more like they just struck at random.  
Papyrus tried his hardest not to be predictable either as he shifted between using his blasters, his bone attacks and his makeshift sword.  
But Flowey's nervous shifting and wriggling vines that moved across his arm and neck were a tad bit distracting.  
“What are you doing?” He finally whispered out.  
“I don't like this. Maybe kill them a few times. They might think they're making progress.” Papyrus grimaced at the thought of feeling that nauseating Deja Vu again, but he simply had to suck it up.  
So he surrounded them with a wall of white bones and used his giant and completely white blaster to finish them off.  
Just like he predicted, the world reset and he shook his head to clear the feeling.  
“Wait, what?” He looked around himself and then down to see him sitting in the snow again, wiping his mouth.  
“You're probably wondering why you're in the snow and not freshly fused with Undyne. That's because of this little thing!” Frisk said all of a sudden and pointed towards their hair.  
There were two hairpins in it, one with a star on it, and one with a flower.  
“This star right here? A manual save point. I created it so that I can save wherever and whenever I want. Neat, right?” Flowey growled slightly at their words, but Papyrus remained calm.  
“I think you forgot that monologuing in battle leaves room for sneak attacks. Goodbye.” Frisk looked behind them too late and was once again obliterated by Papyrus’ giant blaster.  
He sighed.  
This was gonna be a long battle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What? An update from me that didn't take months? Impossible!  
> But seriously, I got the motivation because of one particular comment (you know who you are), so maybe I can squeeze in chapter 7 before the year ends?  
> No promises though!

**Author's Note:**

> So, uh...  
> I've been gone for a long time.  
> This is what I've been working on.  
> My AT.  
> Tadaaah...  
> So I hope you enjoyed it.  
> Sorry for being gone for as long as I was.  
> See you in the next chapter!  
> 


End file.
